Monday, October 15, 2012

Castles Used to Be Completely Uncomfortable

When you think of a castle, you usually think of lavish amenities and
grand-scale poshness, but who cares how big the barn is, when its still
slathered in mud and smells like horse manure. Similarly, castles were
often poorly lit (the sun came through tiny slits for windows); they
were damp; and they had poor air circulation (think of all they body
heat circling around the place). After all castles were build primarily
for defense; creature comforts were on the back-burner. Eventually
however, castles came to be outfitted with pretty rugs and artful
stained-glass windows as somebody had the bright idea to make these
things livable, and to have the interior be a reflection of wealth as
well as the exterior.